


i won't be home for christmas

by commandervenus



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Christmas stuff, F/M, Student Gerard Way, Weddings, gerard way - Freeform, i dont know what this is, lindsey way - Freeform, lindseys fake brother, my chemical romance - Freeform, nice
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 05:59:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5117963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commandervenus/pseuds/commandervenus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>gerard is a lame ass art kid going home to see his mom for christmas and his car breaks down. chaos ensues. (apparently lindsey has a brother. and people like to get married on christmas eve.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	i won't be home for christmas

**Author's Note:**

> this was written in june 2015

         All Gerard wanted out of this Christmas was to make it back home and see his family. So far, he had committed a solid six hours to this journey, driving a little too fast on the highway in his shitty 2004 van. He had stopped a total of four times – a highlight of the trip was hearing Iron Maiden on the radio while he was picking out a “gourmet” coffee from a refrigerator inside a gas station.

         However, all good things must come to an end, and not-so-good things do that too. Gerard figured that must be the reason he was now sitting in a car dealership in Weston, New Jersey, at seven o’clock at night on Christmas Eve.

         “Here’s the good news,” The mechanic said, popping his head out from the underside of the car.  He couldn’t have been younger than forty years old. “We can fix this baby up for ya, but we’re not open on holidays, so it’ll be done by the twenty-sixth at eight in the mornin’. Sharp.”

         “Uh, okay. Great,” Gerard mumbled. This was actually far from great, but the man wasn’t great with honesty.

         The mechanic smiled, or tried to. Gerard thought it looked more like he was wincing. “There’s a hotel right up the road from here. Lovely place, stayed there once with my ex-wife. I can give you a ride or somethin’ if you want, but it’s really right up there. Can't miss it.”

         Gerard nodded. “I’ll walk. Thanks for, um, the help and everything.”

         “You got it, kid,” The guy wince-smiled again and turned back to the car.

         Gerard put on his backpack and considered the fact that he had been called ‘kid.’ He was twenty-two years old.  

 

         After thirty minutes of walking through thick snow, singing to himself and regretting not wearing a scarf, he finally found the hotel. The mechanic had been right–it really was impossible to miss. It was kind of huge, seemingly out of place in a town as small as this one. The parking lot was completely packed for some reason.

         Gerard made his way in and looked around. There was a large fireplace to the right of him, and he sat down in front of it. He was really, really fucking cold. His cheeks were probably bright pink, and his dark hair was soaking wet from snow landing on it. He sighed and took out his phone, texting his mom about his predicament. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too mad about Gerard skipping Christmas, especially since it wasn’t on purpose.

         He put his phone back in his pocket and walked up to the reception desk, where a small man with a bowtie and slicked-back hair was working.

         “You here for the Simons wedding? It's not until nine,” The man asked, eyeing Gerard skeptically. Gerard certainly wasn’t dressed for a wedding; he was wearing a Misfits hoodie and a pair of jeans that he’d been wearing for the past week, if not longer.

         “No, I’m…” Gerard started, then paused. He should have planned this out better.

         “Here for something else? Perhaps the Johnson wedding? There’s four weddings here tonight. The Christmas theme is quite, uh, _popular._ ”

         Gerard just nodded.

         “Anyway, the Johnsons rented out half of this place, so there’s plenty of room, even though you’re late,” The man said, rolling his eyes. “The reception started at six, so they’re probably married by now, but you didn’t miss any of the dancing.”

        Gerard didn’t know what to say, so he just thanked the man and started walking towards the big sign on the left. It said “The Johnsons Got Hitched!” in all-capital Comic Sans. Amazing.

         Gerard didn’t actually reserve a hotel room, but he figured he would find someone to crash with later. No big deal.

         He slowly pushed one of the double doors open. Inside, there was a large, dimly lit dining room. There were lots of tables and probably about 60 or so people. They were all dancing to loud 80’s music, like that one stupid song about waking up before someone goes. Where are they going? Why does he say ‘go’ twice? Gerard knew he could come up with a song better than this in two seconds. Not that he would, though. And if he did he wouldn’t tell anyone.

         He inched his way closer to the dance floor section of the room, if that’s what you call it. If you’ve been to a wedding before, you probably know what he’s talking about.

         The music switched to a slower love song. Suddenly, everyone was doing that awkward wedding thing where you repeatedly hit glass with cutlery. You know, so the bride and groom will kiss. They complied, and everyone cheered.

         Five minutes and Gerard has already decided he doesn’t like weddings.

         All the couples started dancing to the slow love song, and Gerard was reminded how single he was. His last girlfriend broke up with him four years ago, or something. Her name was Jen, and she was pretty and all that, but really annoying. The two only went out because Gerard’s brother, Mikey, had set them up together at senior prom. They dated for about four months. Gerard didn’t want to admit it to anyone, not even himself, but that was the longest romantic relationship he’d ever had, besides the thing with his best friend, Frank, in sophomore year (which lasted from fall to spring, surprisingly). He wasn’t really a commitment guy, no matter how determined he was to change that.

         Gerard awkwardly sat down at a table, preferring to watch the dancing from afar rather than become part of the mess. He made accidental eye contact with people a few times, which made him think about how out-of-place he looked (he still had his giant backpack on). It contained fifty dollars (straight out of his art school fund), a half-empty bottle of gas station coffee, another sweatshirt, probably some underwear, and Gerard’s sketchbook, which he’d begun carrying around sometime last year.

         He also had some empty candy wrappers and a single condom, just in case he ever found himself in a sexual situation (not that he knew what that would be like). He was still angry at Mikey for getting laid before him.

         Gerard Way, the twenty-two year old virgin.

 

         An hour went by, and Gerard found himself walking up to the bar and ordering a drink. He still got nervous in these situations, even though he had a completely valid ID.

         He wondered why nobody had noticed him yet. He didn’t know what he would say if someone did.

         Walking back to where he had been sitting, he noticed there was someone sorta in front of him, wearing a plaid skirt. She had her black hair back in pigtails and Gerard decided she was probably really cute, despite only seeing her from the back.

         He took his seat and resumed watching the dancefloor, this time keeping an eye on Cute Girl. He saw her face a few times, and Gerard could tell she was wearing bright red lipstick and had a really nice smile. She wasn’t doing much dancing and kept going back to the bar just to talk to the bartender. Gerard knew he was cuter than the bartender, but then again he didn’t know if Cute Girl was flirting with the guy or just trying to make conversation. He started formulating a plan for how he was going to say something to her.

         Here are some of the pick-up lines he considered:

         “I’m cuter than the bartender guy, right?”

         “Hey, do you like Morrissey?”

         “Do you want some coffee?”

         “Don’t you know who I am?”

         “I can draw a picture of you if you want.”

         “Have you heard of Pencey Prep?”

         “Not to be weird, but I think you’re really attractive.”

         Gerard began to get frustrated at himself. This was the reason he only had four friends, not counting his mom.

         He took his sketchpad out and began doodling things. He made a game out of trying to guess what her name was. He started out with writing down common names like Emma and Christine, but somehow ended up with Petal as a final guess. Who the fuck names their child Petal? He reconsidered and decided she looked like a Claire. No, maybe Sarah. Goddammit, he was really bad at this game.

         The music was still playing, but people weren’t dancing that much anymore. They were all returning to their tables, seemingly one by one.

         Gerard started to panic. He had noticed a while ago that the place card on the table in front of him said _Lindsey_. Whoever Lindsey was, hopefully she wouldn’t be upset about someone sitting in her seat.

         He started looking around the room and trying to decide who Lindsey was. Was she older than him? Younger? Maybe she’s a little kid. He’d noticed a few of those wandering around earlier.

         He sighed and checked his phone. His mom hadn’t bothered to text him back yet. Gerard wondered how his family was doing. It was nine-thirty at night, they were probably done eating by now and had started giving each other presents. He smiled, imagining everyone sitting around by the fireplace in his parents’ living room. He then frowned, remembering that he wasn’t there.

         While he was busy fantasizing about family dinner, he didn’t notice Cute Girl walking towards him, a weird look on her face. Gerard nearly shot out of his seat. He didn’t have enough time to consider which pick-up line to use. It’s a good thing she spoke up first.

         “Can I have my seat back?”

         Suddenly, it all made sense. Lindsey was Cute Girl. _Fuck, of course._

         “Yeah, yeah, of course, um, sure,” Gerard choked out, trying to put on his backpack and dropping it in the process.

         Lindsey laughed quietly. “You want some help with that?”

         “Me?” Gerard looked up. Lindsey nodded, fighting back laughter. “Nah, I’m fine, I think.” He turned around, and he could feel his cheeks growing warm. He began accepting his failure and getting ready to sit somewhere else. He noticed there weren’t really any other empty tables.

         Gerard was, in a word, doomed.

         He must have been standing there for some time, because someone tapped him on the back of his shoulder. He whirled around, and Lindsey was still there, standing in front of him. “If you really don’t have anywhere to sit, you can stay at my family’s table, but you’re going to have to tell me who you are.”

         He looked down for a second and felt his face becoming warm again. Gerard still didn’t know how to talk to girls. God, he felt like such a loser, but he forced himself to look up at her.

         “Um, well, my name is Gerard Way, and I’m twenty-two, and, uh, I don’t even know who the fuckin’ bride is, or any of these people, I’m here on, um, accident,” He said it all really quickly, and once he was done he let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding. “Sorry,” He added hastily.

         Lindsey raised her eyebrows. “Okay, well since we’re doing introductions like the first day of middle school,” She smiled at him. “My name is Lindsey Ballato, I’m twenty-three years old, and I, um, do know who the bride is,” She said, laughing. “She’s my sister, and she’s marrying some asshole who must have pretty shitty parents, because he’s literally named after Lyndon Johnson.”

         Gerard winced at this. “Sorry for just showing up here, then. I mean, I could leave, but I’ve got nowhere to go. My car broke down.”

         “Don’t worry about it, dude,” Lindsey said, and walked back to her seat. “Just come here and sit next to me.”

         Gerard did what he was told.

         “Alright, here’s some brief family context for ya, Gerard. My sister hates us _all_ , my mother included. She made our brother work as the bartender, see,” She pointed over at the bar and Gerard had a moment of realization, but couldn’t think about it for very long because Lindsey kept going. “My mom made the entire cake, and set nearly all these tables by herself. Now she’s drunk and still dancing with her ex-husband, one of three. None of them are my dad. My dad is dead.”

         Her last statement was so blunt that Gerard didn’t even realize what she said for about a minute. “Oh god, I’m really sorry,” he said.

         “No, you’re not, that’s what everyone says. But thanks, I guess.”

         Gerard was taken aback by this. Was he sorry? He thought he was, but he didn’t want to argue with her, so he nodded silently.

         They sat there for a minute, and Gerard just stared at her. He couldn’t help it, she really was pretty.

         The bartender, or as he now knew to be Lindsey’s brother, walked up to them. “Hey Linds, I brought you another beer, and bridezilla wants to talk to you. Also, who’s this?” he gestured towards Gerard.

         Lindsey smiled. “This is my new best friend, Gerard-who’s-twenty-two and he doesn’t know anyone here except me.”

         “Okay. Nice. Hi, Gerard. I’m Nate.”

         Gerard nodded at him but didn’t say anything.

         Nate looked back at Lindsey. “Seriously, she needs to ask you something.”

         Lindsey stood up and looked back at Gerard.

         “If this is the last time I ever say anything to you, like if she kills me or something, I hope you know that you’re really cute.”

         Then she ran off and Nate sat down in her chair, laughing.

         Gerard had no idea how to react to this, but he smiled and didn’t stop smiling until she came back.

 

         It was now eleven p.m., and Gerard and Lindsey were kissing in the hallway where the bathrooms were. Every so often, someone would walk by. That wasn’t a problem at first when they were just talking, but then things escalated and they began to get some really weird looks from people.

         “You know what?” Gerard said breathlessly, his forehead still touching Lindsey’s. “I’m really glad I didn’t make it to Christmas dinner with my mom.”

         “Me too,” Lindsey whispered, and then they were at it again.


End file.
